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TTC washroom cleaner charged with assault

A contract cleaner is alleged to have hit a member of his crew with a broom following an argument.

By Tess KalinowskiTransportation Reporter

Mon., Jan. 21, 2013

A cleaner has been charged with assault following an argument between co-workers on a TTC washroom cleaning crew.

The two workers are employees of TTC contractor Top Notch.

At about 11:30 p.m. Jan. 12, the workers were cleaning washrooms at Downsview station. A male cleaner allegedly told his female counterpart to hurry along and the two began to argue.

However, when it was time to leave the station, she got on the train and he missed it. She went to clean the women’s washroom at Wilson station. She alleged that when the male cleaner arrived there, he opened the door to the women’s restroom to continue the argument.

The female cleaner reportedly tried to photograph him to prove he was in the women’s room where he shouldn’t have been.

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“He had his broom and it’s alleged he took a swipe at her to knock the camera out of her hand. He hit her arm,” said TTC spokesman Brad Ross.

The incident was reported to the TTC’s transit control centre and, as the TTC’s anti-violence policies mandate, police were called.

Top Notch employees on the TTC are subject to criminal record checks. The company has had cleaning crews in the TTC system since the fall.

The female cleaner declined any medical assistance or counseling, said Ross.

Although there are regular disagreements between employees as in any large workplace, Ross said he hasn’t heard of any other physical assaults among co-workers on the TTC.

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